


On 2 Siblings

by insomniacOlympian



Category: Original - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherhood, Brothers, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Curses, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Logic, Fairy Tale Style, Fatherhood, Gen, Half-Siblings, Little Brothers, Little Sisters, Motherhood, Parenthood, Protective Siblings, Sibling Love, Sibling Rivalry, Siblings, Sister Complex, Sisters, Step-siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27488257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insomniacOlympian/pseuds/insomniacOlympian
Summary: something inspired by "The 3 Brothers" from Harry Potter that's been rolling around in my head for years. it's a big spiral path, lifes journey extended metaphor partially based on my life that could extend from any type of sibling relationship to any 2 socio-political groups u could see as siblings, tbhthere's a more blatant horror theme version, "Oh, 2 Brothers" I want to do eventually but I don't really care about it that much





	On 2 Siblings

A long time ago, there were 2 Siblings.

They weren’t related by blood but they’d grown together and that’s how they and everyone else saw them.

They’d never known anything else and neither of them wanted to.

Both of them had been children who could be very solitary at times and yet want to be around other people for most of their time.

Those who were their age, younger or older - it made no difference. They were social creatures. 

Like I said though, they enjoyed socializing with solitude as well.

They just didn’t like to always do so alone, either.

So almost by default, whenever 1 of them wanted or needed company the other one would be their first option. 

Whenever the were out together somewhere and one of them wanted to leave a place with company, they’d see if their sibling wanted to go with them.

Being children, this meant a lot of walking and biking, which always just led to running around and exploring. 

It didn’t matter if it was the streets, roads, fields, beaches and forests. Not to mention the lots, alleyways and buildings. 

Whether the Sun was out or the Moon was, the city underneath them was the territory of all who lived in it but it was theirs, too. 

Each of theirs and both of theirs. It was the kind of unspoken arrangement - not agreement - that both children and adults make, every day. 

Speaking of everyday, whenever the 2 Siblings were together and had nothing to do and no other friends around them? Whenever wasting time wasn’t enough? They would default to looking around. 

For what, I can’t and won’t know. I’m not either of them. 

One day, though - one of them finally found something when they were roaming by themselves.

It was a simple thing. Just a side road on a corner, paved with gravel and leading into deeper parts of the woods. Once you went far enough, gravel transitioned to dirt.  
They’d found or visited dozens of places like this already and there was only one difference that made this pathway special. 

It was abandoned and unused and as the days went by exploring it and the side-paths that it branched off to, it was almost always left alone by others in the city. Hiding in plain sight, this straight path seemed to be their own problem. 

Not knowing this yet but suspecting that it was a spot like this, for they were a very smart child? 

The Sibling who’d found the path told their counterpart about it and later that day, they’d come together to walk down it and see where it went.

The answer will probably disappoint expectant readers.

As I already said, it branched off into smaller paths - all of which went nowhere. 

The central road simply went deeper and deeper into woodland until gravel pavement became Earth, the only signs of the outside world being trees and plants and small, long abandoned buildings that had been rotting from far before their time. 

The only other animate life on most days was whatever other small animals could be heard roaming around the area, too. 

Eventually, the Earthen path led on until there were no more branches and ended at one last rise in the land, which is the most important part of this story.

Up ahead, the dirt spread out into a box of a clearing, trees packed closer together at the edges and a silver rock face with splashes of other colors blocking the end.

The Siblings talked about climbing it or trying to go around but both seemed impossible from what they could see and it’d been a long walk to get this far anyway.

They’d spent so much time here that the Sun was setting and they were both very tired. So they agreed to head to their homes, talking about what may be on the other side of the cliff for the whole walk back down the path.

When they’d returned to the streets, conversation turned to other things.

So over the years, the path and the rock at its end became the 2 Siblings home away from home. The place to go for the kind of talks you’d have over the phone but need to have in person.

It was just a place where they could be. 

They talked about everything, there. Their shared and separate lives and problems, themselves, their friends and of course those that they were crushing on. 

They talked and talked on that path and sang and danced and fought and relaxed in the clearing that it ended at, the one thing they avoided in both Day and Night being reaching the other side of the cliff.

Despite the fact both were old enough now that scaling it or breaking through the trees would be easy, the rockface seemed more like a backdrop to their time then an obstacle in their space, anyway.

Except at the end of what had been a very long day for both of them and a night capped by a lot of drinking. 

One of them suggested that they just get climbing it out of the way. 

What was the worst of what could be in the woods, really? Who knew what might be over there? 

Not them. 

At this point, they’d both brought others to the path and its stone as well, and none of them had crossed the latter.

So not anyone that they knew, either.

Realizing this convinced the two friends to climb up the rockface, bringing them to a small mesa overlooking woodland as far as that nights remaining light let them see. 

At first glance, if there was anything to find once you climbed down the other bluff, you’d have to walk to find it. 

There was no doubt about that - what light did remain showed that there were no paths here. 

The siblings were deciding on how & whether walking in a straight line from the rock and back would be a good idea when one of them asked the other if they’d heard something. 

Both of them went silent at the question, listening to empty air that was now far more full then it’d just been. 

A few seconds passed before there was a noise ; the crunch of leaves being stepped on. 

That sound was coming closer and closer to them, too.

Neither of them dared break the quiet they were now in but knew from looking at each other's faces that both of them understood that this could be something approaching them. 

The timing of the walk made it seem like it might be a person and one of the Siblings indicated as much, gesturing to themselves.

So the two of them looked to the dark, the sound of foliage crushed underfoot making it clear that these were footfalls. Not footsteps.

Whoever was coming to them out of the dark had naked feet, at the very least. 

As one, the two Siblings started backing away with the lightest steps that they themselves could manage, the sound mirrored by the unknown person coming closer and closer to the cliff. 

Yet when they reached the side they’d climbed unto, one of the Siblings put their hand to the others chest before they could turn to climb down. 

Blanching and inclining their head, they indicated the worry on their mind ; what if this was someone that needed help? 

The other one could only smile nervously and watch the far side of the small peninsula with their friend, footfalls ending and the sound of climbing beginning without any breath with it. 

The form of a man rose up over the edge in a fluid motion that brought the stranger up into a standing pose, the confidence of it ruined by the looks. 

He looked normal enough in silhouette but in the light of The Moon, the siblings saw what could only seem to be wrongness. 

His naked body was as pale as the moonlight but not white ; it was an inklike and light silver with undertones of dark grey that could almost match the stone they were on. 

Another way to describe it is that if the light blue of a rotting corpse had managed to find health? It might look like whoever or whatever this was.

This strangers alien form was tall as well but thin, to the point he would almost be skeletal if not for a barrel chest, broad shoulders and arms and legs rippled with both muscles and veins. 

There was a long neck, the skin of it and his face completely smooth. 

A flattened nose and ears that were small and almost hidden by the one thing that he was wearing ; a widely hooded and black cloak that could almost be form fitting if not for how fluid it was. 

The sight of thin lips set in a sneer had both Siblings glance down at the crotch of what must be some creature because there was nothing there at all. More flesh, not even differently toned. 

Whatever this was did have a pair of eyes, though.

Darker than the clouds or the sky or even the lack of light in between the trees around them. 

It beckoned them forward with one fat finger, turning its back on the brothers to spread its arms. They were shaken, indicating the woods and the sky both as it hissed.

A long and full tone to a sound that was low in volume, carrying around enough so that it seemed to fill the entire clearing. 

After letting that out the stranger settled, lowering its arms and craning its long neck over to side eye the 2 People. 

What could they do but look to each other before one of them finally managed to speak?

“You honestly expect us to go with whatever you are? Through there?”

A softly done nod was the only answer. 

What had been the braver Sibling for now considered that, looking to their friend. 

“You know what? Whatever this thing is, I’m going with it.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Alright. Why?”

“Even if it’s lying, I’ll definitely find out things I never knew. Come with me, tonight. We can walk back just like we planned already.”

Their sibling considered that, looking at the figure of the strangers cloaked back for a few seconds before putting their gaze back on their friend.

“What if it tries to hurt us?”

“2 on 1.”

“I can’t. Actually? I won’t. I know you won’t if I can’t.”

“Actually, I can. I will anyway.” 

There was a shuffling of bare feet in front of them. 

They not only could and would but wanted to. 

“What if it tries to hurt you, then?”

“Tries is the key word.”

“God.”

At that name, the younger of the two stepped over so that they were midway between their friend and this mysterious figure.

“I have to at least try it. When else are we going to meet something like.. Whatever this is? I don’t even have to worry about whether I’m crazy or not, right now. You see it, too.” 

“So? I don’t know. I don’t want you to go. I don’t think you should.”

“We’ll be okay. I’ve grown up with you, Kid.”

With that, the departing Sibling stepped over to their new guide as their partner in crime spoke up. 

“Everyone likes you.”

Their friend eyed the stranger and then to the forest, head tipped over to look back.

“If we don’t see each other again, let’s leave it at that.” 

“God damn. You’re really going, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well. Good luck?”

“I might be back soon. You too, though."

"I love you."

Both of them looked at each other then, for the younger sibling to loosely roll their shoulders. 

"I'll remember that."

The figure at their side placed a hand on their back, lightly turning them to the trees as they leaned over as if to whisper something. 

So the older friend watched as their companion climbed down after what looked like a wraith, jacket waving slightly from the descent. 

Running over showed that they were already out of sight, hushed voices, footsteps and footfalls getting quieter and quieter until all that was left was the woods. 

It was obvious that no more mysterious beings would be showing up tonight and the now lone sibling turned to walk home, wondering if they'd done the right thing. 

The other side of it had been visited the next day and the one sibling walked off from it in a straight line, just as planned before. 

There was no sign of their friend or the creature they'd both met, though. 

So the mesa was a spot that was returned to as the years passed, after that. 

The older sibling became even older and older, having children of their own and still going up the path whenever they could get away with it, even as that happened less and less. 

One morning when they didn't have to work, they'd woken up early and left without letting anyone know. 

It wasn't the sun that they watched, that morning. It was the way its light filled the space between the trees and cast shadows all over the ground. 

The view seemed emptier then it ever had, before. 

So when they heard what sounded like boots stomping down on the underbrush, the one sibling shot up in their seat. 

"Is that you?!"

"It is! Hold on. I'm on my way."

"Oh my God."

What was coming out of the woods though, the older Sibling thought - or who - looked nothing like their old friend. 

For a second, our friend could think of nothing but a late night under a full moon as the reverse image of the corpse grey wraith they'd met that night stepped out from trees shining with light. 

The being back then had been naked but for a cloak and not.. animal but bestial, almost. 

This one? 

They were clothed from head to toe in a dark blue fabric that was almost grey, although there was a dark green cloak over all of that. 

Starkly dark black boots, golden lacing and grey gloves would complete the picture if not for one thing; 

The sleeves of the visitors cloak and shirt were short and revealed flesh that didn't look like the skin of anyone the one sibling had ever seen and definitely not their old friend. 

It was a pale yellow with undertones of copper that would feel right at home with the trees around them - not brown or black but almost.. rustlike. 

Another way to describe it would be that they were less pale or light-skinned and more like what would happen if an albinos body had managed to gain color. 

Those arms were muscled but in a wiry way and it was that sight that made the one Sibling look to this strangers face and breathe in deeply as they made eye contact with what was definitely their old friend. 

The features were the same except for the eyes. 

Both eyes were an inky silver that was more smoke, then cloud. 

Maybe vapor. 

"What the hell happened to you all these years? You look like you've come from.. I don't know where the fuck. A dream? Nightmare?"

Their old friend was a little taller and a little fatter then they'd remembered them and it showed in the way they leaned back as they eyed the cliff. 

"I found eyes in the woods and my vision from walking through them, kid." They said, cryptic and sly dig overshadowed by the fact they sounded like nothing had changed at all. 

Just a walk in the park. 

The older Sibling sighed and their friend did the same in turn, reaching up to pull off the cloak and reveal a mess of grey yet youthful hair. 

"Want to hear about it? Talk about it? I'd love to know what you've been up to, too."


End file.
